CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

“I wish I could stay here forever,” I say, as I lay my head on his chest.

“I wish you could too,” he laments as he kisses the top of my head. “Someday you’ll be able to, I promise. Someday we’ll find a way to make it so we can stay together.

“We’ll figure out a way so we can share a bed every night. We will become a bigger part of each other’s lives. But for now…”

“I know,” I say. It’s horrible to even think about leaving, but I know I must.

“We have to be careful,” I continue. “I understand that. It’s surprisingly great that Ryan is letting me spend the night here once a week, but we shouldn’t push our luck.”

“Exactly,” James says. “Though I want to. I really want to. We have a lot to prove to him and the pack. Which isn’t fair. None of this is fair. We shouldn’t have to prove anything to them.”

“But we do,” I acknowledge the hard truth. “We do have a lot to prove so we have to play their games for now.”

“Only for now though,” he promises me. “Only for now, and then we’ll be a